Dance

The dance program at Lillian Osborne High School provides students with the opportunity to develop the technical and artistic foundations of dance. Through direct involvement in the choreographic process, studying a variety of artistic elements, developing self-reflection practices, and examining the relationships between dance and cultural identity, students will experience a variety of dance genres and traditions. Through developing self-expression, creativity, and communication through the dance curriculum, students will begin to understand and appreciate dance on a deeper level.

In our program, we are fortunate to work with a variety of International Dance Professionals at regular intervals throughout the year. Some notable artists that our students have had the opportunity to work with include, Edrick Ochoco (YouTube, Instagram), Quincy Pipella (instagram), Masani St. Rose-Toth (website), Jorge Rodriguez (instagram), Birkley Wisniewski (website), Josh Capulong (YouTube, Instagram), Thato Pilane (Instagram), Stacey Tookey (website), Winiya Cardinal, and more. We also support the artistic ventures of our graduates who have decided to pursue dance at the professional level, by bringing them back to Lillian Osborne to offer workshops to our current students.

Course Descriptors

Dance 15:

An introductory course for students with little or no dance training. Students will explore a wide range of dance forms including jazz, modern, ballet, tap, hip-hop, folk dance, and world dance styles through traditionally and historically respectful education methods. Other aspects studied are choreography, history, body image, fitness, dance appreciation, nutrition, and dance career opportunities. The students will also be given multiple opportunities throughout the year to work with guest artists, pursuing dance at the professional level. Develop strength, flexibility and confidence, as a dancer, through process and performance.

Dance 25

Students will continue to build on their previous knowledge from Dance 15. Various dance disciplines studied will include, but are not limited to, jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, modern, folk dance, and world dance styles through traditionally and historically respected education methods. In addition to working with a variety of guest artists persuing dance at the professional level, students will also be given the opportunity to choreograph their own routines for performances and lead their peers through dance-related activities, such as warm-ups.

Dance 35

The advanced level of dance study and performance. Various dance disciplines studied will include, but are not limited to, jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, modern, folk dance, and world dance styles through traditionally and historically respectful education methods. In addition to choreographing their own routines for performances, students will begin to develop an understanding of and appreciation for planning large-scale productions, as they will be involved in selecting music, costumes, lighting cues, etc for their year-end dance recital.

Dance IB

This course takes a holistic approach to dance, and embraces a variety of dance traditions and dance cultures - past, present and looking towards the future. Performance, creative and analytical skills are mutually developed and valued whether the students are writing papers or creating/performing dances. The curriculum provides students with a liberal arts orientation to dance. This orientation facilitates the development of students who may become choreographers, dance scholars, performers or those, more broadly, who seek life enrichment through dance.